President Bush Signs PRO-IP Act S. 3325 On Monday, October 14, President Bush signed into law the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act, also known as the PRO-IP Act, S. 3325. The PRO-IP Act steepens penalties for IP infringement and increases resources to the DOJ to coordinate state and federal efforts against counterfeiting and piracy. Although opposed by the DOJ, the Act also provides for a “U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator” position within the Executive Office of the ... Read More...

Expelled Lawsuit Dropped Lennon v. Premise Media Corp. (S.D.N.Y.) The suit filed by Yoko Ono and the children of John Lennon against the producers of Expelled, a motion picture that used a clip of the song “Imagine” without permission, was withdrawn and dismissed last month.  However, Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of Stanford’s Fair Use Project and counsel for defendants, notes: [T]he right result came far too late. The mere pendency of these cases caused the film’s DVD distributor to shy ... Read More...

District Court Denies Yoko Ono Lennon’s Motion for Injunctive Relief By Nicola Carah — Edited by Evie Breithaupt Lennon v. Premise Media Corp. S.D.N.Y., June 2, 2008, No. 08cv03813 Slip Opinion The District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Yoko Ono Lennon’s motion for preliminary injunctive relief in a case involving Premise Media Corp.’s use of a fifteen-second clip of the song “Imagine” in Expelled, its controversial documentary about intelligent design. The court found that the plaintiffs ... Read More...